It Had An Evil Dance And A Sexy Smile
by Ysavvryl
Summary: Or something like that. While running through Tartarus one night, four members of SEES ran into a different kind of Shadow and things got really trippy.


**It had an Evil Dance and a Sexy Smile**

"This is going smoothly," Mitsuru said after another battle in Tartarus went by in a flash. At this rate, they'd be in excellent shape for the full moon mission coming up, much better than they'd been on other full moons.

"We should look for an access point," Minato said, glancing around at the golden halls of Tziah. This floor was particularly maze like, so there were six possible ways to go in sight.

"Should we split up?" Mitsuru asked. Akihiko and Shinjiro were with them on this trip; they were currently checking nearby passages for Shadows.

"No," he said. "The Shadows are easy with the group, but not alone."

"I'm not sensing any access point on that floor," Fuuka said from where she was based on the ground floor. "You're far from the stairs."

"We'll get there, no problem," Akihiko said with confidence. They hurried down a hall that seemed familiar. Although, many of the halls looked familiar because they were practically the same. This one didn't have Shadows in sight.

They only got to the end of that hall and into a large room when Fuuka spoke up again. "Be careful, a strange Shadow has just appeared nearby."

Everyone but Shinjiro tensed. However, they didn't hear any unusual sounds. "Is it that one?" Mitsuru asked, worried. They'd last run into that Shadow before Shinjiro had rejoined; they'd barely gotten away with their lives.

"No, it's not that strong," Fuuka said. "It is stronger than most Shadows around there, so be careful."

While they slowed down, they didn't see any movements until the Shadow did something unusual: drop down out of the ceiling while cackling. It was just a slimy blob of black at first. Right as it hit the floor, it split into three which formed into bright yellow and black Cupids. Cupids weren't too bad as long as they could be killed quickly, but they were a pain if left alive too long. Unfortunately, one of Cupids wildly fired a bunch of sparkling arrows that struck Mitsuru and Akihiko.

"Are you okay?" Minato asked, trying to reduce their accuracy with Sukunda.

"It's just paralysis," Mitsuru said. Though, it felt a little different, like weights were attached to her legs.

"These are Unheavenly Cupids," Fuuka told them. "They're not weak or strong to anything. But, I've never seen these skills they have. Psychedelic Kiss?"

And that's when things went horribly wrong.

* * *

The Unheavenly Cupid had the creepiest slasher smile, Shinji thought, his heart pounding more than usual. Like they'd be happy to bounce around in the air cutely before they filled you with tiny sharp arrows to kill you slowly. He didn't like to think that he could be scared, but he wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off its face and destroy them as soon as possible. Fuuka tried to tell him, "Calm down, they've just got you panicked. A Patra wo..."

Before she could finish, Shinji heard what he did not expect: Minato screamed and nearly stumbled as he backed off. He got his balance and then flew off down the halls they had just come from. "Hey!" Shinji called, going after him without a second thought.

"Minato!?" Fuuka asked in a fright as the third Cupid cackled again. Her voice didn't seem as clear, but Shinji hardly noticed. "Wait you… huh…? Where is this?" Then her voice faded away.

A cackle came from just behind him as one of the Cupids flew after him. "Buzz off," Shinji said, taking a moment to turn his momentum into smashing the thing with his axe. It giggled and flipped upside down over his strike, making him fumble onto the ground. Coming just a foot from his face, the Shadow seemed to wink behind its mask and blow him a kiss.

Since he wasn't quite on his feet, he punched the thing for its cheekiness. The Cupid hit the wall and slumped down to the ground, letting him get back up. Then for some reason, it bounced back into the air and squabbled while flailing its fists, like it was throwing a tantrum. Shinji hadn't meant to enrage it, but that was good as he could now strike it down easily.

Now with that thing gone, where was the leader? There were several ways to go from here and this block of Tartarus had red carpeting. But footsteps weren't showing easily on it. "Hey!" he called, hoping for a response. The walls rippled in a wake to his word. "Huh?"

"Shinji, there you are," Aki said, coming down the hall after him. Alone.

"Weren't you with Mitsuru?" Shinji snapped at him. "Why'd you go and leave her on her own?" Sure, she was very capable and if any of the girls on the team got lost, he'd be less worried about her. But it still wasn't right to leave a girl by herself in a monster-infested maze.

"Why'd you go and leave us to be on your own?" Aki asked, his tone holding a sting of accusation. He looked oddly calm in contrast.

"I was going after Minato, after that fear got a hold of him." Though, that panic effect was clearing up in him now. That certainly had some influence in where he went. "I'll find him, you go back and make sure Mitsuru is..." he paused, looking at Aki under the streetlight with him.

Yes, that was a streetlight. And they weren't surrounded by golden walls anymore. Instead, they were in front of the Iwatodai Station strip mall. It was nighttime under a nearly full moon, a very normal moon not affected by the Dark Hour. Aki wasn't even wearing his fighting gloves anymore. "Mitsuru's the queen, she never was a princess," he said, something else different about him now.

Shinji shrugged. "You were the one who had a crush on her. What became of that? She's certainly got you whipped now." It didn't seem right; he shifted his beanie. "Something weird's going on."

"She's the one in charge, I, I can't just ask a girl like that out,"Aki said nervously. Sort of Aki; he looked like he had back when they'd been in middle school and had just gotten started in SEES. "I'd want to be able to protect her too. But did you see how fast she took out that Shadow the other night? We barely caused it a bruise."

"I think that was part luck with her being able to knock it off balance," Shinji said, a persistent thought in his mind that he needed to be doing something. Finding someone?

"Not entirely. Well then, I'll just have to get strong enough to impress her." He gave a goofy-looking grin. "Think I can?"

"You're strong, but enough to impress her?" he dared him

"I will!" The streetlight then shut off, letting the area fill up with the distorted light of the Dark Hour. Strangely, there were no coffins. Usually there would be a few people here, even at midnight. "Think we can sneak into Tartarus for that? It's hard to say whenever we'll run into a Shadow out here."

The whole area rippled as Shinji felt uncertain. "There? Aren't we already there?"

"Though we're on this side of the bay," Aki said, looking across the street towards the station. "Maybe tomorrow night? We'll catch the monorail so we're there on the island at midnight."

Something was familiar about this conversation. It was real, but it wasn't in the present. "Hang on, that was stupid of us," he said. "We got laid up in the hospital for a week! Tch, and we couldn't even go up more than a couple of floors at the time. We only found out that it's a damn bad idea to go in Tartarus on a full moon; the Shadows go nuts."

"It's a horrible idea to go into Tartarus on a full moon," Mitsuru scolded them in an icy tone. At least, her younger self was as they had come back from the hospital still with some bandages and pain. "Most of the Shadows are at their most powerful then, and their most you wouldn't see otherwise show up and it doesn't matter if they get a line of sight on you. They'll find you no matter how you try to hide."

"You didn't tell us that," Aki said, trying to use that as a defense.

"I did tell you that we're not to go into Tartarus without discussing the matter first," she insisted. "I don't want to be doing this alone anymore. I can't do this on my own; I've tried but I can't."

"I don't remember you saying that back then," Shinji said. His head hurt. "Or ever. What's going on?"

"She doesn't like that kind of nonsense," Aki said, now that it was just the two of them in the dorm lounge. "I can talk to her about SEES business, but anything else," he blushed and was his current self again. "She's still beautiful but scary. But if I could get her to warm up, maybe that would help?"

"I definitely don't remember you saying that," Shinji said. "What's going on?"

Akihiko laughed, but it was a strange sort of cackle. Like the Cupids. "Do you even have anyone you love? Or do you not even love yourself, much less anyone else?"

"What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull?" he asked, gripping the handle of his weapon to assure himself that he did have it. "You're not even Aki, what are you?"

Whatever it was decided to step out into a country road, surrounded by grass and trees. But as it was the Dark Hour, it was eerily peaceful. "Night always chases Day, never catching up," the thing in place of Akihiko said. "Never will. But then, Day chases Night too, also never catching up. They'll never be in the same place at once. You know what, though?" It smiled in a strange evil way. "Does it matter when they're just concepts and we're people far more than that?"

"I don't think you're a person," Shinji challenged it.

"Can you strike me down?" it asked in a warped voice, shifting to a smaller form. But not the younger form of Aki this time. Instead, it looked exactly like Ken. "Would you strike me down?"

Even realizing that this was some crazy Shadow, it was enough to make him hesitate. Flickers of the past appeared around them, the deadly nightmare that he could never escape. "Y-you, you're not..."

"What does the future hold?" Ken (or whatever was in front of him) tilted his head. The scene turned shaky and unsure. Somewhere in a darkened graveyard. Ken was now a high school student in Gekkoukan's uniform, remembrance flowers in hand. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps he was in front of a grave for Ken not too far into the future from now. The high school Ken was fading in and out of existence. "Shinjiro-san."

"Why do you sound sad about me?" he asked.

"Did it really have to be that way? I never got to kill you." He closed his eyes. "I never got to know you. Forgiveness or hate. Life or death. What does the future hold?"

"What the hell is going on?" Shinji asked, wanting this to be over like some bad dream. Dream?

"What hope do we have in seeing what the future holds?" high school Ken asked, opening his eyes again and coming closer. "Why didn't you hope? You're a fighter, you could..."

"Would you really want me to see the future?" Hopelessness was like a siren's call right then. He could just stop caring. The End was coming anyhow.

"Give up," a distorted voice asked. "That's what we want, give up."

Then a faint voice reached him. "...jiro? Any of you, please answer? What's going on up there?"

"Fuuka?" Shinji replied, regaining some mental steadiness again. "Am I dreaming?"

"Those Cupids can cause hallucinations," Fuuka told him as the high school Ken took another step towards him, smiling eerily. "There's a badly injured one right in front of you!"

"What does it matter?" the creature asked him.

"Who's down there with you?" Shinji asked Fuuka, getting a grip on his axe.

"Um, the rest of us, they were discussing about if a small group should try going after you. Yukari, Junpei, Aigis, Ken, and Koromaru are with me."

"Had to make sure," he said, then attacked the false Ken in front of him. That frightened scream chilled him, but there was no blood. Just the black smoke the Shadows faded into. Immediately, things turned hazy and he felt dizzy. But it reformed into the red and gold halls of Tziah. "Did they get you too?"

"Yeah, somehow, but the others snapped me out of it. Lucia's vision is hazy for that area now. What's going on?"

"Mitsuru and Aki were fighting the other two Cupids last I knew," Shinji said, walking ahead quickly. Hopefully that cleared his head. He glanced down the first hall he saw. "Minato got feared badly and ran off, I went after him since I was still panicked. Lost him once the hallucinations started."

"I'm not finding Minato right off," Fuuka said in worry. "But I can sense the other two; they're close to the stairs. Not sure about the Cupids."

"Try to get in contact with any of them, it'll help snap them out too," Shinji said. He felt good enough now that he could sprint down the halls to look for Minato. The others had warned him of an incredibly powerful Shadow that hunted those who lingered on a floor of Tartarus too long. With that threat looming over them, it was best to regroup quickly and head up to the next floor. Even if he just found their leader to get to the next floor, that'd be better than hanging about.

Still, he was concerned about all of them. Maybe visions like that were how the Lost became Lost.

* * *

This battle was going horribly, Mitsuru thought. Two of their members had run off, pursued by two of the Cupids. But her legs still felt heavy and the last Cupid was dancing about in some strange ritual. Since they couldn't move, she and Akihiko tried striking it with magic. The Cupid dodged both spells, then sent a flurry of sparks around her.

Mitsuru braced herself for the damage, but no pain came of it. Instead, it was suddenly unclear what was up or down, left or right. There were a number of status conditions that Shadows and Personas could inflict, but this was unfamiliar to her. She saw two moving beings close by her, but they both looked black and blobby. Which was the Shadow and which was Akihiko?

Never mind, she had to do something! Maybe if she confused it herself. Or no, charming would be better. If the Shadow had recovery skills, charming it might just turn the battle around. She cast Marin Karin, then tried to take a step. She immediately felt like throwing up even though her legs didn't feel weighed down as much. Okay, so her balance was shot, she couldn't get a clear view on what was going on, and someone was now kissing her. Wait, what?

She probably should throw this person off. But her vision cleared up and it was Aikiiko. Why…? Oh, it was probably him she hit with Marin Karin. So this wasn't real, he was just afflicted with Charm. He'd forget about it when it faded. She should forget about it too, and stop him. But it was kind of nice. No wait, why was she even thinking that? They were in Tartarus and in a battle.

Mitsuru pushed him away. "Hold on, let's defeat these Shadows first."

Unfortunately, Akihiko wasn't going to go far and took her arm. "What do you want? I'll fight for you."

She looked around and only saw one of the Cupids, doing a weird midair dance. What about the other two? "We need to be rid of that Cupid."

"Don't worry,"Akihiko said. Then he pulled her into running away from it.

"H-hey!" Mitsuru nearly stumbled in getting dragged along. The Cupid laughed at them and sent kissy sounds after them. "Akihiko, that's not what I meant! Snap out of this!" Why didn't she have a Dis-Charm right now?

"I don't want to," he said, still running with her. "I don't want to turn back to who I was. I want to be with you."

He doesn't mean it, she thought. It was just the charm speaking. Although, it was a nice thing to hear. Wait, no, this wasn't the place nor the time to be thinking of this. She'd rather take care of the Shadow but for the moment, she had to worry about keeping her balance. The boots she had weren't meant for running like this.

Strangely, the hall shifted around them, losing the light and color. It was like running down a dark tunnel with an uneven floor. What was that? Wooden slabs alternating with concrete floor, with a metal rail nearby that she nearly stubbed her toes against. Were those train tracks? "I don't think this place is safe," Mitsuru said.

"You want to keep running?" Akihiko asked her, ignoring that. "I can take care of you. We'll do what we want, without all those crazy responsibilities you have. Without anyone around, we'll do what we really want."

"That isn't right,"she said. Still charmed? "We shouldn't be here, we should find..." she knew she had to go somewhere, but it slipped her mind for a moment. "The stairs! We need to get to the stairs or an access point."

He shook his head "Don't worry about it. As long as we're together, we can do anything. I will stay with you."

There was something nice about hearing that. It might be nice to keep running. Except, this wasn't real. Something was very strange about this. "No, this isn't right. Let's get out of here."

"Where to?" Akihiko asked, glancing back at her and smiling handsomely. Only he wasn't looking ahead where a bright light was rapidly growing. Was that a train?

She ended up screaming in spite herself, trying to pull Akihiko off the rails. But they couldn't move fast enough and the light absorbed them. For some reason, Akihiko was still smiling.

Instead of everything ending in a random train barreling through Tartarus (why?), things got quiet. Mitsuru found herself standing on carpeting. "Mitsuru," the Chairman said.

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes and found herself in the dorm lounge. Ikutsuki was walking towards her with two teenage boys following him… Akihiko and Shinjiro? But it was them from two and a half years ago. "What?"

"As you suggested, these two will be joining us from now on," the Chairman said, sweeping his hand back to the boys. "And I've got a great idea for how to let you all meet up without causing suspicion. We'll explain your activities as a school club."

"A club dedicated to chasing down monsters and beating them up?" Shinjiro asked sarcastically.

"That's cool," Akihiko said, smiling at the idea.

"That might not be accepted," Mitsuru said, following memory. Then she added, "But why are we here like this?"

"We don't have to tell others entirely what we're doing," Ikutsuki said. "If we come up with a generalized name, it will seem like a general club."

She remembered that. Though it had taken a few days for them to consider it, she found the others sitting in the chairs as she said, "I had an idea, with a nice acronym. We could be the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. While it describes our function, it's sufficiently vague enough."

As it had, it made Akihiko and Shinjiro laugh. Mitsuru hadn't been sure what they thought was so funny about it at the time; she hadn't let it bother her since Ikutsuki thought the name was good. Although now she knew what they thought was funny. She'd picked 'execution' in the sense of carrying out a duty, but they thought she meant 'execution' as in killing Shadows. Still, SEES was the name they had taken and it was special to her.

But why now? "What's going on?" she asked them. "We should be in Tartarus."

"You have to be so serious all the time?" the younger Shinjiro asked her. "I'm beat, let's just take a few days easy, take the extra hour for sleep."

The memory of anger and shame came back to her. "This is something only we can carry out so that others don't suffer," she lectured him. Mitsuru recalled that she'd only had to do that once with him. Although, she'd had to lecture them on other things.

And she could see it playing out around her. Akihiko put forth a lot of effort and energy, jogging along the silent streets in the Dark Hour looking for Shadows to take care of. No matter how he felt, he was most likely to be out there. He'd worried her a lot for that reason, like when he'd gotten sick and still tried to go out. Fortunately, she had caught him before he left the dorm and made him stay put in his room. And he'd been so casual about it too, still was to some extent.

"How'd you score more than me?" Akihiko asked Shinjiro, looking annoyed. "I can get to them faster."

Shinjiro shifted the large axe he'd managed to find in Tartarus one night. "Cause I can crush them more easily once I catch up."

"Quit keeping scores, this is a serious investigation," Mitsuru scolded them. Although, by their system, she'd won for taking out more Shadows tonight than either of them. She just had a sword, but her Persona was more experienced than theirs. "And just why are we flipping through my memories? How did this happen?"

"Maybe so you can see what a little bitch you are sometimes," Shinjiro said, something she didn't remember him ever saying.

"What?" she asked. Was this some kind of weird dream? What was really going on?

"Hey, you take that back!" Akihiko demanded, clenching his fist at his side.

"I know it's hard, but you haven't shown up to school in two weeks," she said, more calmly, still cold, and hardly realizing what she was saying until she recognized this situation, at Port Island Station.

"Leave me alone," Shinjiro said sharply. "Why would you want me back anyhow? I'm not coming back." And he walked off, fading away into the blurry distance.

"Shinji!" Akihiko ran up from somewhere, the stairs from the station itself? He nearly went after his best friend.

That reminded her of a painful shame, making her eyes water. No, she had to be strong; she was their leader. But after finally getting others who could use Personas working with her, one had gone away and the other might go after him, never to return… leaving her fighting in the Dark Hour all alone again. And even with the awful tragedy so recent, she was more afraid of being left alone again. That wasn't right; she had to keep that to herself, present a calm and strong front.

"I'm not running from this," Akihiko said, coming back towards her and shifting to his current self. And he took her hand, warm and caring. "I won't run away from you. But if you don't want to bear this burden any longer, you shouldn't have to. I'll run with you; I won't leave you alone."

"A-Akihiko," she mumbled, not sure why this was happening, or how, or where, or when, or why, or why it made her feel so happy… it was just so confusing.

He put an arm around her waist. "Just put all the rest out of your mind." And for some reason, he wasn't wearing a shirt anymore. "Put it all behind you and we'll go out on the road, find some place far away where nobody knows who we are, where we can live in peace and happiness." She'd never thought of him this way before, but she didn't want him to put the shirt back on, so she could touch him without anything being in the way. "Why carry all that pains you around with you everywhere? Just let it all go and be with me."

"You've never been this suave before," she said, some part of her trying to resist and stay dignified. Though it was tempting to not.

"Don't worry," Akihiko said. She couldn't see his face well even as close as he was. "Don't even think, just stay."

This felt familiar somehow. Maybe a dream? Maybe this was a dream. Or a nightmare, just like that time with the full moon Lovers Shadow… oh, that's what was so familiar about this. It was the Shadows affecting them. But, this wasn't a major Shadow like back then, just a regular one in Tartarus. Mitsuru pushed him away. "I'd rather wake up!"

"Mitsuru!" Fuuka called as if from far away. "Wake up!"

As things began to clear up, she wondered what happened to the other three. Had they seen such illusions? She shouldn't talk about them, but there were still some warm thoughts of how Akihiko had been acting here. It wasn't him, but maybe, if they were alone...

* * *

Aki's mind was a total blur; his body felt like it was fighting through sand to move. Was he awake, asleep? He wasn't sure, could barely think to figure it out. What now? There was something that should worry him. He wasn't sure what. Since he felt like that, he struggled to get up and get moving. Getting his blood moving might get his mind working. Come on, there was something he had to be doing.

I could… I could go up a few more floors, explore on my own while you watch over…

"No, that won't do," Mitsuru said, facing him down fearlessly. "What if you get killed up there? I'd have to come up after you and whatever took you out might take me out. No, we can't explore any further with just two of us."

"But this is the only place that changes so much." Was that his own voice? Yes, he remembered this argument. It was, about a year ago, right? "We're not getting anywhere searching around outside. If we want to find the reason behind the Dark Hour and the Shadows, it's most likely to be here. You said that yourself, didn't you?"

"Yes, but just the two of us are not going to cut it." She wasn't easy to argue with, like trying to talk back to an adult when he had been much younger. But the way she was that mature when she was the same age as him was really attractive. Wait, why was he thinking that?

"The Shadows seem to increase in strength as we go up, so we can train to be that good. We'll get stronger, and then..."

"No, it's still too dangerous. Maybe if we had two more; three people going out to explore and me staying back to scan the floors would be safer."

"But we haven't had any luck finding anyone else with the potential! Not even the Chairman can think of anything more to help us with that."

"I don't want to lose you."

"Huh?" Aki's mind had been clearing up in listening to this memory play out. But he was pretty sure she'd not said anything like that.

Then everything around him became fuzzy; only he was clear to himself. "Are you going to protect me?" Mitsuru asked.

"Of course, but why ask now?" he replied. "What's going on?"

"I hope you can," she said, right as everything turned red and it became impossible to tell where they were. Flames surrounded them. Strangely, it wasn't hot here.

"Mitsuru!" Aki tried to run towards her, to take her hand and get out of here. But he didn't seem to be getting anywhere; his body was still fighting for movement. "Urgh. I'm not… not giving up."

"You can't reach her now."

"No, I refuse!" He was stronger. Was he strong enough? Never mind, he had to have the will and get to her right now. "I'm not..." then everything changed again. "Huh?"

There was a smokiness to the air, but it wasn't fire. The area had gone from bright flaming red to cool velvety darkness. All around him, there were indistinct forms and murmured conversations. It reminded him of some movie he'd seen once when he'd been too sick to practice and there wasn't anything else on. As he was thinking that he was definitely dreaming now, he realized that there was a woman singing around here. She had a familiar voice.

Turning, he saw something that shouldn't be happening: Mitsuru was the one on stage singing. It was her voice, except he'd never heard her sing before. And he'd certainly never seen her wearing anything like that red dress, although it flattered her very well and took his breath away. The smokiness, the lack of clarity in everything but himself and her, dazzling… it reminded him of being nervous to meet up with her at first, since she was the most beautiful girl in school and the only one he'd ever considered trying to go out with. He had given up that idea before long; she just seemed unattainable and it was better to keep his focus in one place.

"You really gonna chicken out like that?" Shinji asked, coming up from behind him. "Hmph, I don't believe it."

"I don't know how to start," Aki said, remembering that conversation too (he'd had to pay for ramen and Hagakure had been packed that day, so he hadn't wanted to talk about it there even though Shinji was the only one he'd ever told about this crush of his).

Shinji put a hand on his shoulder. "You could just give up entirely. You've put so much effort into everything, but what has it gotten you? I'm your only friend and we argue nearly every time we meet anymore."

"Th-there's Minato, and the rest of SEES," Aki said. It wasn't just a show of argument either. Minato in particular, he was a guy you could count on in a bind and have a good chat with when nothing was going on. Which was kind of odd because he never said a lot.

"You've got some championships, sure, but you don't have a girlfriend, or someone you want to protect because anyone like that is either dead or gone."

"That's not true," he said, trying not to speak too loudly while she was singing.

"Well then go talk to her." Shinji pushed him towards the stage and blended back into the dim room.

"If I'm dreaming, couldn't hurt," Aki mumbled to himself. Though he still had a nagging feeling that he had to be doing something. Be cautious. Whatever it was, he walked through the shadowy tables and chairs in order to get up next to the stage. This didn't seem right, but there was the enticing way she sang, the smooth way she danced… then she looked down at him and smiled with a warmth that he wished to see more often. Mitsuru offered a hand, which he took, and thought that he'd do whatever to stay this way….

"Mitsuru, Akihiko, snap out of it," Fuuka said, her voice a little hazy but cutting through the dream regardless. "Wake up!"

It all blurred even more, although her hand still felt warm in his. "What's going on?" Aki asked, hearing Mitsuru faintly ask the same question.

"Those Shadows have you sleepwalking and seeing things," Fuuka explained. "That's what that Psychedelic Kiss does. Shinjiro is almost to where you are, but the two remaining Cupids are somewhere near you. Try to get awake and get rid of them."

Things stayed blurry, but he began seeing the red and gold halls of Tziah again. He was with Mitsuru on one of the raised platforms, and holding her hand. After looking at him blearily, she realized it too and took her hand away. Wait, was she blushing? "Uh..."

"My head hurts, but I think I'm out of it," Aki said, flexing his fingers and trying to find reality securely.

"Right," Mitsuru said, putting a hand on her head.

And… there were those two damn Cupids, bouncing around in the air and cackling. Aki quickly punched the nearest one, defeating it. Then Shinji ran in and clobbered the other one into smoke. "You two okay?" he asked, swinging his axe in a way to keep his balance and come to a stop.

"For now," Aki replied. Things were clear again. Although, that illusion was a strong memory in his mind, something he had to ignore as much as he didn't want to.

"Where's Arisato?" Mitsuru asked, her voice tense as she usually got when someone on their team might be in trouble.

"I've found him on the floor above you now," Fuuka replied. "A-and you'd better get going, the stairs are in that other hall, first opening to the right. That floor's starting to draw Death."

"You mean that Reaper thing?" Shinji asked.

"Let's move, we have to regroup," Mitsuru ordered. And there was no way they were going to disobey her on that, so they all ran for the stairs and ascended to the next floor.

Once there, Fuuka was able to guide them to where their leader had disappeared off to. He was not doing well; it seemed like the only thing keeping him on his feet and walking was how he braced his hands on the wall. Aki's memory of this visit was still not all there, but he seemed to think that Minato hadn't been this badly off. Maybe he'd fought a Shadow on his own? Aki used to do that on nights he walked around, but that was weak Shadows outside Tartarus. Up in this block, the Shadows were much more threatening.

"Arisato!" Mitsuru called, getting him to stop and turn his head towards them. That was enough to make him stumble into the wall. "Hang on, we'll help you out of here. We should stop for tonight."

"Mm..." he replied, putting his back on the wall and looking at them as they got close. His eyes had a strange glow to them, bright blue. Wait, weren't his eyes gray? "You're here." And his voice sounded off.

"Is he caught up in those illusions too?" Aki asked. Although he had a feeling that wasn't enough to explain his condition.

"You seem exhausted," Mitsuru said to Minato. Which he did, but how could that explain the eyes?

"I don't sense those illusions anymore," Fuuka said. "But he is under that fear curse." That wasn't quite right either, because he looked too calm and weary to be afraid.

"Don't worry, he," Minato clicked his tongue, "I just need some sleep. The time doesn't feel right, I can't quite remember... take care, good night." then he fainted.

Fortunately, there was an access point not far. Shinji and Aki helped get Minato back to the dorm. Since both Mitsuru and Fuuka thought he'd be okay with some sleep, they decided to wait on getting him to a doctor until tomorrow after school. It was one of the worst trips they'd had into Tartarus yet.

It didn't occur to Aki until later when he was trying to get to sleep himself: there was another time that Minato had faintly glowing blue eyes. That was back in spring… the time he'd summoned a Persona without knowing a thing of what was going on during that first full moon battle.

* * *

The next day…

Minato still seemed out of sorts, but he'd gone to school and might have even done some Student Council work if Mitsuru hadn't found him there. He was someone who could tough things out without letting others in on how poorly he felt. Not wanting to leave him like that, Mitsuru insisted on taking him over to the hospital for a check up. This time, the doctor said that he was still stressed out over whatever had terrified him last night. Minato wouldn't say what and Mitsuru wasn't about to press him about it. She just called up Aigis to bring him back to the dorm to take it easy for the rest of the day.

She still got back in time to do her own Council work. It was normal everyday tasks, except today she kept recalling the events of the past Dark Hour. Why? That whole sequence was little more than a dream while the Shadows tried to get them killed. And she wasn't the kind of girl to get smitten with a guy, usually because she was too busy with other things to consider it. Was this how those other girls felt?

When she got her work at school done, she intended to go back to the dorm to do some studying in the lounge; there was a report in Classical Lit that she had to get written, which needed another read of the material to get it back in mind. But even thinking of that, she noticed that Akihiko was coming from the gym at the same time. Mitsuru was sure what to say right then. She should work on that report, but she wanted to hang out with him. Why?

"Oh, hey," Akihiko said to her, jogging to catch up.

She paused for a moment, nodding to him and trying to keep collected. "Hello. Are you headed back?"

"Sort of, I was thinking of getting something to eat at the station," he said. "Uh, you know how Minato is doing?"

Mitsuru explained about his condition. "We shouldn't go back into Tartarus until he calms down," she added. "But I'm sure he'll have his thoughts collected before long."

"Yeah, he bounces back quick from anything," Akihiko said, some admiration in his words. "Well, my thoughts still seem off from all that mess too."

"Right, it was strange." The words were right there, telling him that she'd wanted to take his hand and run from everything as long as they were together. But that wasn't right. He was handsome, though… stop it, mind. "We'll have to keep a sharp eye out for those Cupids. Although, they were so unusual that maybe they won't come back. The floor guardians haven't yet reappeared, even weeks after we defeat them."

"I don't even remember it all that well," he said, sound embarrassed. "And what I do remember, I..."

Did he remember that he'd kissed her? "Um, I'm sorry, but I cast Marin Karin on you while I was confused," she admitted. "That may have something to do with things, on top of their strange skills." Maybe that would put a stop to this thing.

"Ah, that explains why a lot of it is fuzzy," he said. "Uh, it's no problem, we all got messed up in that." There was a moment of silence between them; Mitsuru felt awkward since she wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him and it didn't feel entirely right to just cut this off and carry out her normal plans. Akihiko didn't seem too sure himself, but he forced a smile anyhow. "Hey, you want to come with me?"

Something came to mind that she'd thought about, but had always dismissed because it seemed embarrassing. But, she knew he wasn't going to make fun of her and it would be nice to spend time with him. "I guess that would be all right," she said with a nod. "Well, unless you have somewhere in mind, do you mind going out for ramen? I've been wanting to try that place out, but I'm never sure of the etiquette of that kind of restaurant."

His smile got more real at that and he nearly laughed. "There's not an etiquette there, at least not one you could use that word for. Come on, it's a great place, I'm sure you'll love it."

"All right," she said, smiling back. She wasn't going to do something as silly as run off with him, but this might just work out after all.

* * *

When Aigis had brought Minato back to the dorm, he looked in a mix of restless and worn out. Shinji hated days like that himself, so he pulled Minato back into the kitchen to do some cooking and talking together. He'd thought it would help settle his mind. But Shinji found himself doing a lot of the talking. Normally he kept to himself since it wasn't worth the bother most of the time. But once he started, Minato watched him and listened. It was like he understood just doing that, though Shinji found himself hoping that he didn't really understand. He wouldn't like seeing anyone else in his own shoes.

And he wasn't even talking about the heavy stuff, just things about cooking and various places around town. "I'm usually not chatty like this," he said as he was realizing how much he was talking. "Hope I'm not bugging you."

"No, not at all," Minato said, leaning on the counter since there wasn't any prep work left to do for the vegetable soup they were making. "It's like seeing you in a different light."

He found himself smiling and had to go banish it. "Huh, guess so. You feeling any better?" When he nodded, Shinji added, "You were acting pretty weird last night. Though, I suppose we all were."

"Kind of," Minato said, looking down. "It reminded me… actually, I never told the others how long I've been experiencing the Dark Hour. Nobody really asked me, but it's been ten years."

Shinji nearly lost his grip on the spoon he had. "No shit? You would've been younger than Ken."

He nodded. "Right."

"So you've been fighting Shadows that long?"

Oddly, he shook his head. "Not really, not until I moved back here. My parents died out on Moonlight Bridge; that was my first time. I saw some things back then… I still can't explain them. I don't know if coming back here was a smart idea. But, it feels inevitable because..." then he went silent again.

"Still, you keep going in spite of that." Minato nodded again, his usual response to things. Though Shinji couldn't blame him for wanting to keep quiet about that kind of thing. "Well don't push yourself too hard; wouldn't want to see our leader crack, right?"

That made him smile a bit. Then he looked up as the front door of the dorm opened. Although they didn't have a good view from the kitchen, they could hear that it was Aki and Mitsuru coming back in. Some of the others greeted them. And before long, they could hear Yukari asking, "What, you two went out together?"

"Not quite like that," Mitsuru said, although they could hear the embarrassment even from here.

"It's no big deal," Akihiko said, though he sounded like he was trying to brush off something he felt more important.

In the kitchen where the others wouldn't here them, Shinji said, "Tch, sounds like you two finally got together. That's good."

"What's that smirk for?" Minato asked, a bit amused and probably wanting some way to get off his darker thoughts.

"It's just something stupid I'm thinking about," he said.

"Come on, I won't say anything about it if you don't want," he said.

Well, if it cheered him up… "You'd better not," Shinji threatened, then waved him closer. Speaking more pompously than he needed, he then said in a low voice, "And what you don't hear are the cries of dozens of fangirls and fanboys in Gekkoukan who are utterly devastated at the idea of their precious crushes dating each other even if they deny it with all the adorable awkwardness of those who've never dated before."

Maybe it was because he wasn't expecting that kind of joke out of him, or maybe Minato just wanted something to be upbeat, but he completely cracked up at that, leaning back on the counter from his laughing fit. It even caused the other room to quiet a little. "Hey, what're you up to in there?" Aki called out.

"Nothing you need to hear about," Shinji called back while Minato kept laughing. It made Shinji think that it could be fun to chat with him more often. And if they ended up talking of darker things, maybe he might even understand more than most people would.

Nice things could come out of horrible disasters.


End file.
